CASE STUDY

The Container Store: Case study



The Container Store: Case study

Introduction

Tracking a firm's performance is not just the responsibility of the financial experts or professionals working in the firm. The employees of the firm or organization must also keep track of where the organization is heading financially or otherwise. Measurement concept emphasizes the same point that not just attorneys, auditors and financial mangers take care of the bottom line or profitability, but every staff person should make an effort to learn and understand the firm's financial and other pertinent information necessary to track the firm's performance and by doing that members of the organization and human resource personnel realize that they also have a stake in the organization. They no longer remain hired employees of the organization, but they in fact, become business people in the absolute sense as they try to understand every aspect of the business. In today's world, HRM is the way in which different firms measure their performance. Human resources can be defined as the attraction, selection, storage, use, motivation, reward and discipline of the employees in an organization. In short, it relates to managing people at work. During the last century or so, profound changes have occurred in the industrial mix of the economy, the nature also the degree of competition, as well as the types of work that employees perform. These changes also altered the role of HR in the success of the organization. Now, HR or management of people is so vital that it helps the organization to gain competitive advantage. One of the worth mentioning example with this regard is of the Container Store. The position of the Container Store in the industry of home organization is quite strong, and the main reason behind that is their people management that is Human Resource Management. This paper would explore what functions of HR help the container Store to achieve competitive advantage.

The Container Store

The company was founded in 1978 by Garret Boone and Kip Tindell. During this period the founders, found an opening market and decided to open a Home Organization Product store. At that time, home organization products were sold only for commercial use. Boone and Tindell persuaded different manufacturers to sell their products to them, so they could in turn sell them to the general public. They opened their first store in Northern Dallas in 1978. Their effective strategies let the organization grow, and today where different organizations in the same industry are shutting down their business the Container Store enjoys a lucrative and strong position in the industry. The main reason behind their strong position is their strategies to deal with their people. Their Human Resource Management strategies are so effective that it has become the case study, and it is taught to students to improve their managerial skills (Ammenheuser 2004, 29).

The Case Study

The given case study discussed what are the functions of human resource department that help the Container Store to achieve competitive advantage? This case shows that the recruitment, training ...